The Stars That Shine
by for always forever
Summary: Cameron stares at his accusingly. "You and Papa are best friends," he says loudly, "You were best friends. Not even married best friends, just best friends like me and Rory." / Jeff tries to explain 'love' to his son and fails terribly. FUTURE!NIFF


**author's note:** so i'm pretty sure most of you have at least _heard_ of the whole rory-is-klaine's-kid thing. (just like sugar is brittana's, and harmony is either faberry's, st. berry's, or finchel's.) and they all travel back in time to save their futures and their parents and whatever. well, i'm writing a story about that called **Wishing Well**, and this is kind of a spin off. In my wonderful little headcanon, cameron mitchell (the glee project) is nick and jeff's son because i LOVE niff and the pairing is so underappreciated. if you don't feel like reading 'Wishing Well', all you really need to know is that cameron and rory are best friends. the rest is pretty self-explanatory. the funniest part, is that i started writing this like, over the summer with a completely different intent. cameron was just a name that their kid was going to have, because i just really love that name. he also had a little sister named charlie, but i kind of cut her out. i totally lost interest in writing this until i was re-reading it and i was totally astounded that i had already decided that cameron was niff's kid in my main fic, and then there was THIS, just waiting to be written and worked in. so i did. and here it is!

if you're not into the whole back-to-the-future thing or you just don't care, you can totally pretend that nick and jeff just have a random kid named cameron, kurt and blaine just have a random kid named rory, rachel and finn just have a random kid named harmony, and santana and brittany just have a random kid named sugar.

**disclaimer:** hi, i don't own anything because i'm just a poor high school kid. lyrics belong to taylor swift.

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><p><em>and our daddies used to joke about the two of us<br>growing up, and falling in love._

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><p>There's a little boy sitting at the kitchen table, scribbling his messy signature onto X-Men Valentine's day cards with a green sharpie. There's a small stack on the table beside him, and the clock reads <em>8:33.<em> It's kind of exciting, really, because he's half an hour past his bedtime and Daddy hasn't said _anything_ yet. He's got to get the cards done before school tomorrow, even though Valentine's Day isn't until Saturday and tomorrow's only _Friday_. It just doesn't make any sense. Shaking his head, he signs a quick _from Cameron S._ and sets the sharpie down on the table. He shakes his hand out because writing his name twenty two times can be hard work, even though he's only finished ten. He picks out a card with Cyclops on it that says _I'm keeping my eye on you, Valentine!_ and scribbles his name at the bottom.

"Oh, dude," a voice behind him sighs, "Never leave Valentine's cards to the last minute, they take _forever_."

Cameron jumps a little, shaggy blonde hair falling in his face. He turns around to see his father grinning widely, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. "Valentine's day is _stupid_," Cameron mumbles. Jeff laughs.

"Don't be like that, Cam," he says, pulling out the chair next to his son. He drops down and scoots the chair closer, picking up one of the cards that are already signed. "Are these the ones you and Papa got at Target? X-Men. Very nice, I approve." He ruffles Cameron's hair and grins. "_You rock my world,_" He reads out loud. He makes the universal hand gesture for _rock_ and starts banging his head. Cameron laughs. "Avalanche. He's my favorite, even though he's a bad guy."

"I'm giving that one to Rory," Cameron tells him proudly, "Because he's my best friend and this is the best one."

Jeff hands the card back to him and says, "I'm sure Rory's gonna love it." Cameron beams. "Now what's this about Valentine's Day being stupid?"

Cameron sighs heavily, like he's got the weight of the world on his shoulder. Jeff tries his best not to laugh. Cameron is the most dramatic kid Jeff's ever seen, and he's known Rachel Berry's kid since she was born. "Love is gross," Cameron says, and he makes a face.

"Why do you think that?" Jeff asks, smoothing down Cameron's hair. The little boy shrugs.

"Rory says that Harmony likes me," he says, distressed, "_Like_-likes me," he adds, and Jeff nods seriously. "And he says I need to give her the best card I have so we'll get married," Cameron pulls a face, "But I want Rory to have the best one, and I don't _wanna_ get married."

Jeff pulls a thoughtful face. "Marriage isn't all that bad, kid. But I think I'm a little too young to be a grandpa," He wrinkles his nose, "Actually, thirty is a lot too young to be a grandpa."

"Daddy," Cameron whines, "I don't even _like _her."

"That's a deal breaker, then," Jeff says wisely, "You have to marry someone you love."

Cameron pauses, satisfied. "How did you know you loved Papa?"

"I've loved Papa since we were little," Jeff tells him, "We were best friends first. Your papa moved across the street from me when I was about your age. I pushed him into the mud the first day we met, because he pushed me too high on the swings." Jeff laughs, shaking his head. "Your papa was, and still is, my best friend. That's what you gotta look for."

Cameron's eyes are wide. "You mean like me and Rory?"

Jeff panics, and tries to back-track. "Well, kind of. But you and Rory are _different_ best friends. You think girls are pretty, right?"

Cameron nods, very seriously. "Yeah. Marissa's very pretty," he pauses, "Her eyes aren't as blue as Rory's though," he shrugs, like that decides everything. Jeff sighs.

"You can…some people like boys, some people like girls, and some people like both. Just because Rory's your best friend, doesn't mean you should marry him. You can't just love somebody. You have to be _in_ love with somebody."

Cameron looks confused. "But how do you know the difference?"

"You will, kid," Jeff says fondly, and he ruffles Cameron's hair. "Trust me on this one. Your old dad might not know much, but I know all about this."

Nick walks into the kitchen and goes straight to the fridge. He yanks it open, pulls out a carton of orange juice (labeled _Papa's OJ_ in his own handwriting, before Jeff added his own contribution of_ because he's gross and can't use a glass_) and takes a long swig straight from the carton. He turns around, sees Cameron and frowns. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"Yeah, well, you were late getting Cam his bath, and he needs to finish his Valentine's Cards for tomorrow," Jeff shrugs, and he holds up a blank card for proof.

Nick makes a sympathetic sound. "Oh, man, those things take forever," he says, shaking his head, "Are you almost done?" he asks, and Cameron shrugs.

"Kind of," he says, and the he adds, cheerfully, "Daddy says I can't marry Harmony because she's not my best friend, and I can't marry Rory cause I'm not _in love_ with him."

"Daddy's stupid, you can marry whoever you want," Nick says distractedly, and he grabs a bag of pretzels off the counter. Jeff crumbles up an extra Valentine and throws it at Nick's head.

"I'm trying to teach our son the values of love," Jeff says, offended, "You want him to come home with some stripper when he's eighteen?"

Nick snorts into his glass and almost chokes on a pretzel. Cameron frowns. "Daddy, what's a stripper?" he asks loudly, and Nick sighs. He puts the clip back on the pretzel and sets them on the table, slapping Jeff's hand away when he tries to reach for one.

"See what you did, Jeffrey?" Nick asks, sounding tired. Jeff grabs his hand and pulls him down for a kiss. Turning to Cameron, Nick adds, "You'll never know."

"He might when he's older," Jeff shrugs, and Nick whacks him upside the head.

"Not my baby," he says, warningly. "Cameron will be a respectful _gentleman_, and he will never have a reason to go to a strip club. Ever."

"Bachelor party?" Jeff suggests, and he earns himself another slap. Cameron sighs, because his parents can be _ridiculous_ sometimes. They're not as bad as Sugar's moms, though. Miss Santana starts yelling in Spanish and Miss Brittany somehow manages to work unicorns into the conversation no matter what. Cameron doesn't know how Sugar puts up with that every day, because he doesn't even like going over there for play dates. Miss Santana makes really good cookies, though, so he doesn't mind.

"Doesn't stripping mean you take off your clothes?" Cameron wonders out loud. His parents turn to stare at him, and Cameron gets defensive. "Rory said he heard his Papa tell Rory's daddy that if the dress Miss Rachel wore to the Tony's got any shorter, she'd look like a stripper." His parents continue to stare. Cameron sighs. "Can I go to Rory's tomorrow after school?"

"Sure, Cam," Nick says, eyes wide.

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><p>The boy finishes his last card and drops it onto the kitchen table triumphantly, before jumping down from his chair and hurrying up the stairs.<p>

Nick's only just gotten home when he gets a call from Rachel Berry.

"Hey, Rach," he says into the phone, "Whatcha need?"

"_Is this how you're raising your son_?" Rachel demands shrilly. Her voice is even more annoying over the phone, which is very hard to achieve. Nick holds the phone a little farther away from his ear and scrunches his nose.

"Excuse me?"

"_My daughter came home crying today because she received a Valentine from Cameron that said, 'It's not you, it's me.'_" Rachel explains, her voice slowly rising. Nick has to muffle his laughter in his hand, because _wow_, Nick really needs to start checking over Cameron's cards every year. Last year, he'd written '_Don't make fun of Rory_ _again or I'll kick you in the face_' on Samuel Puckerman's Valentine's Day card. Nick and Jeff had been called in for a conference about their son's "violent tendencies in the classroom." Jeff had gotten glared at for high-fiving his son in front of the principal.

Nick tries to keep his voice steady as he says, "Rachel, I'm so sorry. Is Harmony okay?"

"_No!_" Rachel cries dramatically_, _and Nick sighs. "_My poor baby is experiencing her first heartbreak! You're lucky I don't send my husband over to give him a talk!_"

Nick thinks that Finn probably wouldn't do it anyway, but he doesn't say that. "I'll talk to him about it, okay? He's over Kurt and Blaine's, but I will give him a stern talking-to when he gets home."

Rachel sniffs. "_See that you do_," she says, and she hangs up without so much as a goodbye. Nick sighs. Cameron can sometimes be a little too much like Jeff.

* * *

><p>Jeff goes to pick Cameron up from Rory's house after he and Nick finish dinner. He puts on his heaviest coat—which really isn't heavy at all, because peacoats are mostly just for show and Jeff <em>hates<em> puffy jackets—and wraps a scarf around his neck. He kisses Nick goodbye, grabs the hat that Cameron "forgot" to wear this morning, and walks the two blocks it takes to get to Kurt and Blaine's building. The doorman knows him by now, and he asks if he and Nick are doing anything special for Valentine's day. Jeff only winks and says, "That's private." The doorman laughs heartily and buzzes Kurt and Blaine's loft.

"Sirs, Jeff is here to pick up Cameron," he says.

No more than a second later, the intercom beeps. Kurt's voice sounds dry as he says, "Send him up. I wanna talk to him about his son's lack of manners," Jeff can hear Blaine making a _tsk tsk_ noise in the background. He can't decide if they're being serious or not, so he just shrugs and waves goodbye to the doorman. He crosses the lobby and sends a quick wink at the receptionist—she's had the hugest crush on him since she started working there. She actually asked Blaine for his number, and Blaine gave it to her as a joke—and takes the elevator up to the top floor. It opens at Kurt and Blaine's loft.

Kurt's sitting on the sofa. Rory's sitting on the floor next to Blaine's favorite armchair. Jeff's not exactly sure where Cameron is. It's a game they always play—whenever one of their parents comes to pick them up, they hide each other in random spots in the house. It earns them a good twenty extra minutes, because they're very creative with their hiding spots. Once, Cameron managed to get Rory on top of the refrigerator. Jeff still doesn't know how that happened, and every time he asks, his son just snickers and runs away. "Hello, Jeffrey," Kurt says, and he pats the spot next to him. The armchair giggles, and Rory sits innocently beside it.

Jeff sits down and sighs. "What did he do now? I swear, we'll pay for any of the damages, he's going through a kind of destructive phase right now—" The armchair makes an indignant noise, and Rory kicks it. Kurt gives him a stern glare, and Rory smiles innocently, licking the ring pop on his finger.

"He didn't break anything," Kurt shrugs, "But didn't you ever teach him that he's supposed to ask the father's permission before he proposes?"

Jeff's eyes go wide. "He…what?"

"Cameron proposed to my son and didn't even ask my permission," Kurt sniffs, and Blaine walks out of the kitchen laughing. He hands Jeff a cup of coffee and pats his shoulder. Jeff frowns.

"He proposed?"

Blaine nods, eyes shining. "I took pictures. Looks like we're gonna be in-laws!" He beams, sitting down in his chair. It lets out a tiny _oomph_ and Blaine looks confused. Rory shrugs.

"You're sitting on my kid," Jeff points out, and Cameron lets out a tiny _dangit_. He squeezes himself out from under the chair and plops down next to Rory. "Cam, did you seriously propose?"

"Uh-huh," Cameron nods, and he points to the ring on Rory's finger. "See? I even did it _properly_. I'm romantic," he says proudly, and Kurt snorts into his hand. Jeff wants to laugh, but Cameron looks completely serious.

"Why?"

"Because you said I should marry my best friend," Cameron tells him.

Jeff sighs. "And did you completely ignore everything else I said about how you have to be _in _love with somebody?"

Cameron shrugs. "Papa said you were stupid. So I didn't listen."

Blaine lets out a loud laugh, and Kurt takes a sip of coffee and tries to hide his smile. Jeff sighs, and thinks that maybe he should talk to Nick about disrespecting him in front of his kid. Then again, Nick probably won't listen to him anyway so it's kind of pointless. "Best friend love is different than married love."

Cameron stares at his accusingly. "You and Papa are best friends," he says loudly, "Blaine told me stories about when you were in high school. You were best friends. Not even married best friends, just best friends like me and Rory."

"My dads were best friends, too," Rory pipes up, and Jeff smiles at the way he slurs his R's. Rory has the most stereotypical little kid voice ever, and it's totally adorable. "Because my Daddy was oblivious," he says it like it's something he's been told over and over again. Knowing Kurt, he probably has. Blaine frowns.

"I'm gonna marry Rory!" Cameron yells, and he and Rory run, laughing, up the stairs. The door to Rory's room slams shut, and Jeff sighs.

"So," Kurt says brightly, "Who's paying for the wedding?"


End file.
